'That's all that matters is that W' - Giants' QB Tommy Devito after win vs. Patriots.
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By Bob Gaydos
Timing, they say, is everything. Whoever "they" are, I tend to agree with them. And I'm also the first to admit that my timing on this column is terrible, from a journalistic viewpoint.
But I don't write to a deadline anymore and, well, a story is still a story, especially in these days of no more local newspapers.
So, two stories that got my attention a while back involved a couple of guys who you could say are living, breathing examples of a certain type often referred to as stereotypical inhabitants of the North Jersey/New York City axis: Tommy DeVito and Rudy Giuliani.
DeVito, for those who don't follow sports, is a quarterback in the National Football League. That statement alone is testament to the fact that, when it comes to timing, DeVito's has turned out to be almost mystical.
DeVito is the starting quarterback for the New York Giants because the quarterback who started the season as number one suffered a serious injury and was replaced by the backup quarterback, who also was seriously injured. The team was also not playing well.
Some might say right place, right time and, yes, that's true, but DeVito, a 23-year-old graduate of North Jersey's famed Don Bosco High, had to put himself in that position.
His football career at Syracuse and Illinois was unremarkable and he was not drafted as a quarterback by any NFL team. Time to look for a career that doesn't require good downfield vision and a willingness to be slammed to the ground by 260-pound linemen?
No, DeVito asked the Giants for a tryout and someone liked what he saw and DeVito got a walk-on spot as the team's third (only in emergencies!) quarterback.
Badaboom, badabing, and there's the North Jersey kid who still lives with his parents playing quarterback as the moribund Giants suddenly win three straight games and lift all of North Jersey and much of New York City out of the football doldrums.
Turns out the kid's got guts, can take lots of hits and can throw the ball. And he's got a confident attitude as demonstrated by an Italian hand gesture he made famous after his first three wins. Kind of an in-your-face don't mess with us message folks from the area would recognize and the rest of the U.S. was introduced to via TV.
I mentioned first three wins because, as you may know, the honeymoon ended last weekend at the hands of the Saints, who tossed Devito's hand gesture back at him.
No bigee. He's still the Giants starting quarterback, his teammates support him, he has an agent out of central casting for "Goodfellas," a cousin named Danny DeVito (not that one) who throws a mean tailgate party and, yes, good timing.
A story broke recently that his agent raised DeVito's appearance fee to $20,000 from $10,000, because of his client's sudden celebrity, and a pizza restaurant canceled the gig, saying they couldn't afford it. DeVito didn't miss a beat. He showed up free of charge, probably ordered a chicken parm and undoubtedly said the Giants will take care of the Eagles in their next game. The coach says he's still the starting quarterback, for now.
And Rudy? Last I heard, a jury in Atlanta had ordered him to pay two poll workers $148 million for defaming them as part of the Trump team's efforts to steal the 2020 election.
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